


Stuck in Hell

by We_re_in_bloody_hell



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angel!Thomas, Everybody else is a demon, Half-demon!Newt, Hell!AU, Lots of people are in it but they have different names, M/M, Nick somehow plays an important role in it, Wicked is Heaven, angel!Teresa, half-demon!Nick, hybrid!Minho, the title says it, they don't know what Minho is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-23 02:04:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6101209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/We_re_in_bloody_hell/pseuds/We_re_in_bloody_hell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Minho gets thrown in hell as one of WICKED's experiments, but realises that he's not so alone. His friends will help him at all costs, and he's determined to get them out of that hellhole, pun intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> Hello ! This is very, verrrrry loosely based on fanart I stumbled across on Internet (actually I only got Newt's appearance from it). English is not my first language, so feel free to point out any errors !

Being thrown in hell sucked, Minho decided. 

The air stank. The food was half-rotten. The handcuffs he wore were uncomfortably hot. 

And on top of it all, he couldn't remember anything except his name and the fact that he was in Hell. 

Minho was making his "ten reasons Hell sucks" list on the floor of his cell, because his handcuffs were fixed to it and he couldn't do much more than lie down, sit up, and do push-ups.  
His whole body hurt, and his muscles were sore from the hundred push-ups he had just done to kill the time. The hot floor of his cell had scorched his palms, and ribbons of steam raised from his once-wet black hair. 

Just when Minho was beginning to feel deadly bored, the door opened. (If you could call the oddly shaped half-melted chunk of metal a door.)

The guard stared him down through his multiple eyes, and barked an order in demonic. Immediately, two things full of tentacles (Minho decided to be kind and call them guards too) barged in the cell, opened his handcuffs, and snatched him up, leading him through a maze of corridors, handcuffing him again. At least those were cooler, and he could actually stand up.

Minho followed blindly the guards for a while, before realising a change in the atmosphere. The air stank less, and was definitely less hot, the corridors had grown from stone-craved tunnels to larger things that almost looked civilised. 

Almost. There were smears of blood. 

Eyeing the other corridors, Minho gave up on trying to remember the way back (like he wanted to go back to these stinky cells anyway) and considered making a run for it, cons being : 1) the guards were less exhausted than him, and probably faster, 2) he didn't know were to go, 3) he just noticed that the guard behind him was holding what looked suspiciously like an electric gun. 

Here went his thoughts of escape. 

He gave that up too and tried to guess what was likely to happen to him, from a quick death (that sounded way more appealing than it should have been) to some barbaric human sacrifice to the demons' famous and feared worldwide terrible master whose name Minho had forgotten. 

So much for being feared worldwide. 

He shook his head and settled for watching his surroundings. 

The corridors had gotten larger, cleaner, decorated here and there with wooden doors. The torches were more numerous, and the demons Minho and his escort met looked more civilized, some of them hurrying through the hallways without sparing them a glance, arms charged with papers, weapons, or... Was that lingerie ? 

The other sort walked (slithered, flew, whatever) in groups, happily chattering. Whenever Minho and his guards neared one of those groups, they stopped dead and watched him with round eyes, before erupting in chatter and giggles that sent chills down Minho's spine. 

When they finally entered the third and last part of the maze, Minho was chilled to the bone. 

The corridors here were even larger, and looked almost palace-like, the walls crimson red and finely decorated with paintings of massacre scenes and portraits of demons, all lined with silverware. Even gold had begun to show the tip of it's corrupted nose, shining under the torches.  
The further they went, the less demons they met, and the few Minho and his guards encountered looked like lordlings, always a servant or two in tow, scrunching their noses up when they saw Minho, as if bothered by some stink. (Eau de half-boiled human, ladies and gentlemen !)

He didn't know where they were headed, but it was obviously no slaughter place. Or maybe a very fine one. 

When they reached the doors, Minho was beginning to expect his feet to fall off. 

He gaped at said doors until one of the guards smacked him over the head with a tentacle, while the other was off doing... Something... That could relate to declining his identity to the heavily armed mountain of muscles guarding the doors. 

The doors... Even some ignorant like Minho could appreciate the finery of the work made on those. 

They were round, huge, and divided into seven parts, each of them filled with allegories of the seven deadly sins, directing towards the main masterpiece, in the middle of the circle, exploding with colors : a painting of what's-his-name, the master of the demons, a beautiful man with red eyes and dark wings spurting from his back, seated on a throne of tiny suffering human beings. 

Below it, an inscription read, in a language unknown to Minho but that he yet managed to understand somehow : Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven. 

Minho didn't get much time to admire the doors or wonder how on earth he was able to read a language he didn't even know, given that said doors opened, and the guards forcefully shoved him in what looked like a throne room, except that there were seven thrones, and each of them but one were occupied by teenagers. 

Minho wondered why Hell had to produce such beautiful masterpieces. The thrones were breath-taking. 

They were disposed in a circle against the bare walls of the room. The first one to Minho's left was entirely made out of various deadly weapons, which didn't fit it's occupier, a scrawny black-haired teen that glared at everyone and everything, wrinkling his big, broken nose at Minho. 

The next throne to the left was a sort of big golden armchair, in which was slumped a fat kid, looking no more than twelve, eating from a big plate to his right. He smiled to Minho when the human entered, but it was more of a 'you are gonna die painfully and I'll enjoy it' smile than a warm one. 

The next throne was an elegant, very dark, and very empty one, craved out of obsidian and inlaid with sparkling jewels and gold. It's feet were figures holding up jewels, money, even other people, and it's arms were a naked man and woman made out of obsidian, both of them holding up numerous knives - real knives, Minho realized, sharp and pointy. Whoever owned that throne was either paranoid or smart. 

The next one, facing the door, was the highest, all gold and silver, resembling exactly a king's throne, were it not for the two arms jutting out of the back, holding a crown above the dark-skinned occupier of the throne's head. He was a bit shorter than Minho, but had this despicable use of staring people down like he was king of the world. The others gave Minho the chills, but this one he despised at first sight. 

The next throne was what really held his attention, not so much the throne itself - a mingle of naked stone bodies - than the two people sitting on it. Or rather, the one sitting on it and the one slumping on the first's lap, head and feet resting on the throne's arms. 

The first one was a lean and lanky blonde with the most beautiful face Minho had ever witnessed, the kind of face that could've been adorable if it did not look so toxic. Blondie wore a white shirt, lots of necklaces and bracelets, with black panties and stockings. 

Mind. Blown. This stuff should be forbidden to hot people. The blonde demon smirked at Minho, trailing his fingers on the other one's body. 

Said other one, a redhead, opened his eyes and grinned at the human, then jumped off the blonde's lap and came whirling around Minho. He wore a slight resemblance to the blonde - same way of moving, same pitch-black eyes, same constant bed hair, equally hot - but the similarities ended here. Blondie was pale where Redhead was tanned, and the latter's hair, not rust or strawberry blonde like normal people's, but blood red, like bloodied feathers, somehow gave to his cute face an aura of death that did not bathe the blonde. Redhead was also shorter, about Minho's height. 

The demon faced the human, holding his chin between his slim fingers, black orbs full of apprehension searching for something that obviously wasn't there. Minho didn't move a muscle and glared at him, earning a small smile. 

The demon finally pulled away, disappointment and... Sadness ? Flashing on his face. It was gone in the blink of an eye, and the redhead offered Minho his usual brightly mischievous smile that said : "I know so much things you don't, and it's gonna be so fun hearing you scream when you find out."

These demons definitely had a gift for passing messages through smiles. Though Minho wasn't sure he appreciated. 

Redhead whirled around him once more. 

"What d'yya think, Lust ?" The demon asked, and Minho could do nothing but hope that the blonde didn't have the same British accent. "Sexy, eh ?"

The blonde smirked, and his smirk also said 'you're gonna scream tonight', but the meaning was an entirely different one. Minho felt hotter than in his cell, fidgeting, and praying whoever heard him that the demon didn't have an accent to add to his hotness. 

"Yeah, he'll totally do."

All Minho's hopes shattered on the floor like glass. The blonde - Lust, apparently - had the hottest British accent there ever was and would ever be. He was doomed. 

"I'm sorry," the human suddenly said, confirming his lack of brain-to-mouth filter, something he had realized in his cell, "but are you aware that you're wearing women underwear ?"

The red-haired demon chuckled at that, leaning into Minho's personal space, breathing in his ear. 

"He ain't the demon of Lust for nothin', ya know." And with that he jumped gracefully back on Lust's lap, leaving Minho all flustered. 

The haughty dark-skinned demon straightened up in his golden throne, head almost touching the crown above it. 

"Envy, go back to your seat," he ordered, "and someone wake up Sloth. Let this Gathering begin !"

A scrawny kid in a throne of money, at Lust's right, proceeded to wake up the last demon in the room, asleep on a throne of pillows, by throwing jewels at him, but Envy - Minho supposed it was the redhead, since no one else was out of their seats - muttered something to Lust, then spoke up :

"I call dibs on the human !"

That raised a chorus of protestations, the loudest coming from the scrawny kid in his throne of money :

"Not fair ! Why should Envy have him ?"

"'Cause I called dibs first, Greed !" Envy shot back. "Next time ya'll be quicker 'bout it !"

Greed threw a big jewel at his face. Lust caught it, and sent it right back, touching the scrawny brunette in the forehead. Gluttony got into the mood, and excitedly threw a pineapple in Lust's direction, missing badly and nearly beheading Minho. The scrawny black-haired kid on his throne of weapons mindlessly reached for a spear, and the human flattened on the floor, sensing a great drama approach. It all looked like it was quickly degenerating to a throwing fight, were it not for the haughty demon. 

"STOP !" He roared. "Everybody settle down !" 

Greed threw a nasty look at Envy and sat, playing with a diamond, as if to say that he was more than ready to continue the fight. The dark-skinned one went on : 

"Greed, Envy claimed the human, so he'll get it. Move on. Gluttony, taste him and tell us what he really is- FOR SHUCK'S SAKE STOP THAT !!"

After getting sure that he'd get Minho, Envy had lost interest in the Gathering and proceeded to make out with Lust, straddling him and kissing him full on the mouth. It was the hottest sight Minho had come across since the beginning of his life in Hell. 

"Shuck off, Pride," drawled the redhead, sliding his hands under Lust's shirt while the other nipped at his neck. "Just continue believing you're the leader and leave us be."

Pride's left eye twitched violently, and he seemed to consider taking up the throwing fight where he'd stopped it. 

Minho contemplated sneaking away while they were all too busy jumping at each other's throat to notice him, but Pride exhaled slowly a few times and gestured for Gluttony to do whatever he was supposed to. 

The fat demon slid down his armchair, almost falling face-first on the floor, and waddled towards Minho, who didn't know how to react. Run and hide behind Envy's empty throne ? Stand there ?  
Pride said 'taste him'. Was the fat boy going to eat him ? 

Before he could take a decision, Gluttony jumped forward with an incredible speed, and took hold of him. Minho, startled, struggled against the demon's iron grip, swearing and calling him a couple of unprintable names. Calmly, the fat boy raised Minho's arm to his mouth and bit. Minho let out a surprised yell and went to kick him, but Gluttony threw him on the floor and clambered back on his throne, grunting with the effort. 

After a few unsuccessful tries, the dark-haired one got up from his deadly throne, took five long strides to the boy, and pulled him up his throne, sighing. 

"Thanks, Wrath," said breathlessly Gluttony, before swallowing and turning towards Pride. "He ain't human, but neither is he an angel or a demon. He got traces of all."

The few people actually paying attention to the Gathering mumbled unhappily. Pride sighed. 

"Well, we're still as ignorant as we were yesterday. Gathering dismissed." With that everybody got up and made for the door, ignoring Minho as if he'd turned invisible. The not-so-human-after-all just stood there flabbergasted. 

Summary of the day, he thought. First, I wake up in a cell with no memories except my name and the fact that I'm in freaking Hell. Second, I get dragged to a Gathering of the Seven deadly sins themselves and manage to fall head over heels for Lust of all people. Third, I discover that I'm not human. Oh, and I got claimed by Envy somewhere along the way. Great. 

Anyway, what in hell (haha) did Envy want with him ?

'He doesn't need a reason,' his inner voice told him. 'He just wants.'

Minho sighed, seeing Envy come trotting toward him, after addressing Lust a weird hand sign that shouldn't have meant anything to the (let's call him a)human, but did. 

Come at eight, it said. 

The raven-haired boy sighed again, while the redhead led him outside and beckoned his guards, leading them through another maze of corridors yet. He was in dire need of sleep, and didn't have the slightest envy (lol) to listen to the two demons having sex. All Minho could hope was that the place Envy led him would be soundproof, though he didn't bet on it. 

After a while, they reached a plain black door in the crimson wall, and Envy shooed the guards away, pulling out his keys and opening the door, shoving Minho inside. 

Whatever Minho had expected, it was not a modern-looking flat with soft blue walls. Ok, a flat for billionaires. With no windows. But a flat nonetheless ! 

As soon as the door closed behind them, Envy freed Minho of his handcuffs and collapsed face-first on the couch. 

Minho stared at him, wondering if he should strangle him, or knock him out somehow. 

Before he could take a decision, (apparently he was really bad at it) the redhead rolled off the couch and onto his feet. 

"Sorry," he said. "I'm forgetting all my manners. Come, I'll show you your room."

Minho, puzzled, followed him, looking around the loft with so much suspicion it made Envy laugh.

"Chill, Min !" He chuckled. "I didn't hide any landmines or tanks around here !"

The human was beyond startled. 

"I never told you my name," he realized. 

"Yeah you did," replied Envy with a genuine smile. "Three years ago, when I fell on you and you tried to cut my balls off. Don't you remember ?"

"I wish I did."

Nostalgia flashed on the redhead's face. Watching him closely, Minho remembered something that had startled him earlier. 

"Envy ?"

"Hm ?"

"Earlier, when you were checking me out, you looked afraid. Of me."

The demon smirked, albeit a bit sadly, and he shook his head fondly. 

"Minho Park," he sighed, surprising the human. "If there is one thing on this planet that will never change, it's your inability to read me. That, and your lack of brain-to-mouth filter," he added as an afterthought. "So, here's your room, bathroom's this way, your clothes are in the closet. See ya tomorrow." And with that the redhead hurried out of the room, leaving a dumbfound Minho standing in the middle of it. This demon was plain weird. 

 

0o0o0o0o0

 

Minho covered his ears with a pillow, hissing in frustration. Of course his room wasn't soundproof.

And obviously, Lust knew secrets passageways into the loft, because even though Minho hadn't seen him cross the door, he still managed to end up with Envy under Minho's room, and it took all of the human's willpower not to imagine what they could be doing down there. 

'Judging from their grunts, something rough,' his inner voice, always helpful, supplied. 

Downstairs, a body hit something that rattled like a door, and Minho gave up. 

He rose from his bed and stomped towards the stairs he had noticed earlier, after taking a shower. He nearly jumped half of them, and guided himself with the sounds, trying to find the room the two demons were in, only to stop in front of a bookshelf. 

Minho raised his fist and knocked lightly, twice, on the highest shelf. No reaction came from the other side, except a loud "stump" and more grunts. They were also speaking, but Minho couldn't make out the words. He knocked loudly on the middle shelf, three times. A boy cried out on the other side, and Minho kicked at the lowest shelf with his foot, hard. 

The bookshelf slid to the left, and the human barely ducked a flying knife. 

He couldn't avoid the flying Envy, though. 

The redhead swept him off his feet and immobilized him, pressing a knife to Minho's throat. He was sweaty, his red hair falling into his eyes, and fully clothed in black training clothes. 

"You've grown slow," Envy said, before jumping off Minho, grabbing a nearby rope and climbing, using it as a catapult to jump on Lust, who wore identical clothing and tried to meet the redhead's assault with a mawashi geri he ducked easily, swiping the blonde's other foot from under him. Lust kicked Envy in the stomach, and the shorter demon threw him on the nearby wall. 

"I win the bet !" Envy yelled. "I knew he'd come ! Pay, Newt !"

Newt...? 

The name jogged Minho's nonexistent memories. But who was the demon calling to ? The only other person in the training room - because that's what it was - was Lust...

"Yeah, but he's a quarter hour late !" Lust replied, letting himself fall to the floor. "The bet is off, Nick !"

"He remembered the code !" Protested the redhead, throwing him a bottle of water and flopping down next to the blonde. "Therefore, I win !"

"Whoa, shanks, slow down !" Minho called. "What code ? And what are your real names ? What's going on ?"

The two demons stared at him. 

"Told ya he didn't remember," said the blonde. 

"We can work on that," replied the red-haired one. "And to answer your question, Minho, you used the code to open the door." He took a sip of his water. "Two light knocks up, three loud in the middle, one strong in the bottom. And my name's Nick, by the way." 

The blonde put his empty bottle aside and cleared his throat. 

"Name's Newt. And you're supposed to know that." As Minho opened his mouth to ask other questions, he raised his arms. "Whoa, shank, slim it an' let us speak, 'Kay ? An' ya better keep your bloody hole shut or I'll tape it. We've got a lot to explain."


	2. Chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations, explanations. Basically it's just talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry short chapter guys >.

"Where should I begin..." Newt ran his slim fingers through his hair, and Minho almost forgot what they were talking about. The guy looked far too sexy for his own good. 

"WICKED." Nick replied, kicking the dark-haired boy in the shin to get his attention. 

Minho shot him a murderous look, to which the redhead paid no attention. 

"Yeah, right. So, WICKED..." The blonde began, searching for words. "WICKED is a community of Angels, created almost twenty years ago, with the goal to create the perfect human being, in order to stop the Great War on earth."

Nick continued :

"At first, they choose young women, and breed them with demons, for an experiment on how to suppress the seven great sins in someone."

"Of course, the women died as soon as they got pregnant. After a few unsuccessful tries, someone got the idea of infecting the women with demon blood before breeding them, so their body could get used to demons and last longer."

"The women still died, but most of their babies lived. WICKED raised and trained these babies, running tests to eliminate the ones unlikely to survive the last trial."

"We were more than two hundred when the tests began," Newt declared, his tone somber. "Only nine of us made it to the last one." He held nine fingers up. "Alby, Gally, Chuck, Winston, Aris, Zart, Jake, Nick, and I."

Nick shuddered. 

"They sent all nine of us here, as an offer to the Seven Deadly Sins."

"You see," Newt explained, "the thing about the Seven Sins, is that they have to inhabit a demon body to live. When their body gets old, or dies, they change to another like you would change clothes. So, given that we're half demon, we were the new shipment."

"Two of us didn't make it," Nick added. "Zart was tried by Wrath, and Jake by Pride, but apparently they were too human, and died in the process. All the others were possessed : Alby by Pride, Gally by Wrath, Chuck by Gluttony, Aris by Greed, Winston by Sloth. All of them but us."

Newt gave Minho a crooked smile. 

"You see, the Sins can't control you if you're not one bit like them. Thankfully, we were chosen by the easiest to control, and could master them, making it easier with weekly injections of angel blood a friend in Heaven sends us."

Nick snickered. 

"If I were chosen by Wrath, I would be killing people right now. And if anyone but Lust had tried Newt, I'd be all alone and probably dead."

"Why is that ?" Minho asked, eyeing the blonde, who just shrugged.

"Shank's afraid of intimacy," Nick replied, smirking. "Even touching sets him on edge. Lust didn't stand a chance."

Minho shot Newt a surprised look. The blonde gave him a small embarrassed smile and shrugged again. 

Minho turned to him, eyeing the redhead suspiciously. 

"What about you ? What tells us you're not Envy ?"

The red-haired demon raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, I did save your life by claiming you. If I were Envy, I would've taken your body, given that you are so much fitter than I."

Newt grunted. 

"Please, please do not even go there. You know how he is."

Minho frowned, but let the subject drop and asked instead :

"What's the thing with me, though ? Gluttony said I'm not human." He paused. "Am I a half demon ?"

"No," Newt said, shaking his head, blonde locks dancing around his face. "You, Minho, are the last experiment WICKED made."

Said last experiment cocked an eyebrow. 

Newt went on. 

"We believe," he said, "that you are some kind of hybrid of demons, Angels, and humans. But we don't exactly know."

"How about we ask our friends ?" Nick suggested, cocking his head to the side. 

"How about no," Newt muttered, but he didn't try to stop the redhead from turning switches on a strange-looking thing. 

After a few minutes of fumbling, the air above the thing cracked and an image of two teens eating each other's faces appeared. 

The boy was a bit taller than Minho, with brown hair and a kind sort of face. He was passionately kissing a black-haired girl whose hand was undoing the front of the guy's pants. 

"Oops, bad timing," Minho said, starling the two lovers. They sprang apart, wiping their mouths. 

"Hello, Newt, Nick," said the guy, buttoning his jeans with an embarrassed expression. "Hello, Minho. We were waiting your call."

"Sure you were," Nick muttered. 

Newt stared the guy straight in the eye, and brandished a map coming out of nowhere.   
"Explain" he said. 

Minho leaned forward to get a better look to the map. It had two crosses, one on the border of what was likely to be a river, and the other one on the other side of a grey space. 

"What is that ?"

Nick came closer and held the map flat on the table in front of the transmission device.   
"That, my friend," he declared, "is the map of Hell. Here," he pointed to the river "is the river Styx. Here (he tapped the first cross, on the border of the Styx) is where we - as in the half demons sent here - woke up the first time. And here (he tapped the second cross) is where you were found. Which means," he added, lifting his head to look at the two hologram teenagers, "that Hell's exit must be between those two crosses. Am I right ?"

The girl bit her lower lip and nodded. Newt sighed. 

"Well, we're fucked."

"Why ?" Minho asked. "What's between those places ?"

The blonde smiled darkly. 

"The Fields of Eternal Punishment, Minho. The worst place in Hell."

 

0o0o0o0o0

 

Minho's gaze flew between the four teens. They all looked dark.

"And that's bad because ?"

"That's bad because," Newt replied, "every human who nears the Fields of Punishments suffers all the pains he's ever endured in his life, at once. So, if we go near that place, the demons might discover we're not of the Sins, and we might never be able to leave the Fields."

Minho swallowed against a dry throat. 

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." Nick agreed, and turned to the two hologram teens. "So, now, second question. What the shuck is Minho ?"

The girl bit her thumb nail, blue eyes glistening with worry, and glanced at the door behind her. 

"We're not supposed to tell you," she whispered. 

"Aww, c'mon Teresa !" Nick whined. "You're not even supposed to talk to us !"

The boy shook his head. 

"Listen, we just can't tell you, okay ? All you need to know is that he's the only one that can open the Door to earth."

"But how ?" Newt asked, looking desperate. "And don't answer in riddles ! We're running out of time and of Angel blood !"

"I'd rather not be overpowered by Envy, thank you very much," Nick added. "I already had a blackout I didn't mention to Newt last week. Not cool."

Newt gaped at him. 

"Why did you do that ?"

"You're already klunking yourself in normal time, why should I worry you anymore ?"

"But-"

"Boys," the brunette said quietly, "we don't have much time, so listen carefully."

When he got the half demons attention, the guy said, hurrying like he was afraid someone would catch him :

"Yes, the door is in the Fields of Punishment. No, we don't know exactly where. All we know is that Minho has to enter a code he's the only one to know and spill some blood on the door to open it. Be careful thought, Janson said something about strength drain. Also-" he stopped abruptly, seemingly listening to something, and turned the transmission off. The three other teens were left to stand there glaring at a transmission device that didn't ask anything to anyone and would've looked positively worried if it could. 

"Well," Minho said, breaking the tension. "Looks like we're doomed. Happy lads, those guys. Who are they ?"

"They're the ones that sent us Angel blood," Newt said. "Thomas and Teresa. They work for WICKED." 

"Some guys get all the luck," Nick muttered. 

Newt flashed him a smile. 

"Who talks about luck ? We've finally got a way out !"

Judging from the redhead's somber face, he wasn't so convinced about that. And neither was Minho. 

"Strength drain ? Eternal suffering if we fail ? A code I'm supposed to know but don't remember for the moment ? Oh yeah," the Asian said, laughing dryly. "Sounds like fun !"

Newt smirked at that, then turned to Nick. 

"What's the plan ?"

The other boy smiled devilishly. 

"Step one, getting Minho the perfect pet outfit so he'll go unnoticed. Step two, surviving and exploring the Fields of Eternal Punishment. Step three, getting out." He rubbed his hands and looked at a horrified Minho with a smirk. "Let's begin Step one."

 

0o0o0o0o0

 

"You didn't tell them," Teresa said. 

Her and Thomas were seated on the couch in their loft, in Heaven. The loft was big, clear, good-smelling and agreeable. 

'Nothing like Hell must be,' Thomas reflected. He felt bad about his three friends  
locked down there. 

"Thomas ?"

Teresa's voice made him raise his head. 

"Yeah ?"

His girlfriend's blue eyes searched his face. 

"You know it would hurt no one to tell them what exactly awaits them if they try to open the Door."

When Thomas said nothing, she pressed on. 

"You know one of them has to die to open it. Why didn't you tell them ?"

Thomas sighed. 

"I can't tell them. Minho will be the one to open the door, so he'll probably be the one to die."

"So you willingly let him die and do nothing ?!"

He turned to Teresa. She looked shocked. 

"It's not so easy Teresa ! Minho is strong, he may be able to make it if he gives up his strength. But Newt and Nick ? Newt would never let anyone die to save him. He'd kill himself before that happens. And Nick would rather stay in Hell until they find a solution, and trust me, he'll find one, and it won't be profitable to WICKED's Variables AT ALL."

Teresa glared at him, and got out of the couch. 

"Wait !" Thomas called her. "Where are you going ?"

She didn't turn. 

"To Brenda's ! At least SHE tries to find compromises, not just sit there and let it happen praying for everything to magically sort itself out !"

"But you hate Brenda !" The brunette protested. The only answer he got was the slam of the door. The Angel screamed in frustration and punched the comforter. 

"It's not my fault ! I didn't ask for that !"

'Neither did they ask to be sent in Hell for an experiment,' his inner voice told him. 'They're fighting every day to survive and you are complaining about your petty difficulties ? You're pathetic.'


	3. Chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sins manifest themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update ! >

"I hate you." Minho said, tugging on his leather collar. "I hate you so, so much."

Nick's only response was a smirk. Minho sighed, just when the door of the half demon's "flat" opened on Newt, who paled upon seeing Minho. 

It was understandable. 

The... Uh... Human only wore a leather collar (as already mentioned) and thigh leather pants. Also, some kind of thing used to muzzle dogs covered half his face. Nick looked extremely satisfied with his "giving Minho the perfect pet outfit" work. 

"What did I ever do to you ?" Minho whined. "You're evil !"

Nick sniggered, and Newt motioned for them to come, looking about everywhere except Minho's abs. He seemed a bit pale, making Minho worry he was going to be sick. 

'Come to think of it,' he reflected, 'they both look pale and dizzy.' His worry increased when Nick stumbled a bit when bending to pick Minho's leash up from the floor, but he found his footing and smiled like usual, bouncing to the door. 

The dark-haired boy reflected on what the heck could be happening to the two half demons, while following them out of the loft, when he noticed they weren't taking the way that lead to the Seven Sin's throne room. He hurried a bit, catching up with them.   
"Where are we going ?" He hissed, as he felt the air warming up. 

"The judgement room, in the first circle of the Fields of Eternal Punishement," Newt hissed back. "You might feel a little pain, but bear it, we can't give you any painkillers, that would look suspicious."

Minho nearly fell on his butt. 

'Painkillers.' That must be why the two boys looked dizzy. 

"Wait, 'first' circle ? Do you mean there are others ?"

It was Nick who replied. 

"Ever heard of Dante's Inferno ? There are nine circles. The first one is for the people that never believed in anything, but it isn't painful, just boring. Also, the souls here tend to disappear and go to Heaven from time to time. The second circle is where the guys that, um, felt a lot of Lust, let's say, go. Again, it's not very painful, just windy. The third is for gluttons, it's a bit more painful and cold. The fourth is for greedy people, it's basically a bath of melted gold in which the souls of the damned drown endlessly. As you can imagine, very hot and very painful. The fifth is for Anger, radiates pain and hatred, souls are fighting all over the place. The sixth is Heresy, the souls are trapped in a flaming pit guarded by demons. The seventh is Violence, the souls drown in a lake of blood. The eight is Fraud, the damned are entrapped in a dark place while being tortured by demons, and the ninth and last is for traitors, it's a frozen landscape in which demons torture souls eternally. A year in the ninth circle is an hour here, and two months outside. The place also radiates the most pain."

"The legend says that before, Satan was imprisoned in the middle of the ninth circle," Newt said. "But that's no longer true, and instead there is a pit of nothingness by which souls are repelled."

"Which means that it is our best chance of escape, unfortunately," Nick added with a crooked smile devoid of humor. 

"Well, we're screwed," Minho said. 

The half-demons didn't answer, and merely pushed a door open. 

Minho doubled over, his stomach rebelling against the pain shooting through his body. He felt two cold fingers on the back of his neck, where the pain was the worst. 

"This wound is quite fresh, less than two weeks," Newt whispered. "It must hurt a lot, but please bear it."

Minho nodded a bit, and raised with difficulty. Newt was scowling and Nick bit his lip as they walked on a bridge toward a sort of room suspended above a barren landscape full of souls. Strangely, none seemed very affected by pain. 

'You're more sensible because you've got angel blood, duh !' His inner voice told him. 

Great. Just fucking great. 

They finally reached the room an dived in. The other Sins were already seated in thrones resembling those in the throne room, and judging from the jewels, food, and various weapons sprawled everywhere, they just had another fight. 

Pride glared at them when they entered the place, eyed Minho with nothing short for disgust, and decided to ignore them. 

For once, Newt and Nick sat on their respective throne, Minho crouching near Nick's. He observed the Judgement room. 

It was a wooden, high roofed room, with no decorations but the seats. The space in the middle of them would've been completely barren, were it not for a big dangerous-looking engine in front of Wrath's seat, pointing it's aggressive muzzle in Envy's throne direction. 

Nick glared at it. 

"What the heck is that thing ?"

"That, Envy," Wrath (he had an horribly scratchy voice) answered, petting the 'thing' like it was a dog, "is a rocket-launcher."

"Wonderful. And what is it doing, pointing in my direction ?"

"Originally, it was pointing in Lust's, but Pride told me to blow your seat up instead if you seated in Lust's again."

The redhead glared at the troublemaker, who flashed him a big toothy smile, seemingly extremely happy with himself, and slumped in his throne, pouting childishly. 

Actually, everyone acted childishly, bickering like toddlers for a toy, throwing fits for nothing more than being mouthed off at, fighting for dominance like a group of kids...

Okay, very dangerous kids. 

A soul appeared in the centre of the room, blinked once or twice to the launcher's muzzle, and looked around to the teenagers seated on strange thrones, seemingly panicked. 

It was the soul of a young man, his hair shaved, tattoos littering his arms and neck. He wore earrings and piercings, and his clothes were thorn. Minho vaguely remembered, through the pain, that his kind were called skinheads. 

The skinhead glared at the Sins, horror showing in every fibre of his body. 

"Where the fuck am I ? What's happened ?"

Nick leant forward, resting his elbows on the arms of his throne and his chin on his fingers. 

"Ooh, interesting. We don't get youngsters every day. Tell me, boy, how did you die ?"

The guy gaped in horror, his face going blank. 

"I-I... No, I... No !"

He collapsed on his knees, clutching his head and muttering under his breath. Nick snapped his fingers. 

"How. Did. You. Die."

"I-I can't be... I was just having fun... I'm sorry !" The skinhead wailed. 

"That's great, luv," Newt said, tugging and playing with his own hair. "But what are you sorry for ?"

The skinhead was crying now. 

"I s-stole a c-car... I was forced... Who are you ?"

Pride flashed him a smile. 

"Thief, eh ? In which circle do we send those again ?"

"In which circle ? Are you fuckin' with me right now ? Yer gonna lemme go ya bastards !" The skinhead ran to Newt, the closest to him, ready to hit him, but was repelled by some kind of ward. He landed on his butt and tried to punch Wrath. 

"So, Violence ?" Newt asked the others. Five "agreed" rang in the burning air, and the skinhead vanished with a last wail of despair. Minho felt sorry for him. 

The judging sequence went on without any notable incident, until a young blonde girl materialised in the room, sobbing her heart out. 

"Hello, girl," Newt gently said. "Would you please stop sobbing and tell us what's happened to you?"

The teen sniffed. 

"I don't know... One moment I was breaking up with my boyfriend and the next I was here... What happened ? Why am I here ? Who are you ?" She looked so miserable Minho almost went to hug her. Almost. 

"Looks like an error to me," Greed said, playing with a jewel. "Those soul- weighers ! Can't they focus on what they're doing ? What d'yya guys see in her?"

Everybody shook their head. 

"Fire them," Nick said. "It's the third time this week."

"We're sorry," Pride told the girl coldly. "It appears there has been a mistake. You can go to Heaven. Tell them one of our souls got lost on the way and we wish to get it back." And with that, the girl's soul disappeared, sobbing thank you's. 

After a moment, Nick raised from his throne, gripping the armchair to avoid falling. He was horribly pale, but Minho doubted anyone except himself and Newt would see it. 

"It's getting boring," the redhead nonchalantly said. "I'm heading back to my chambers." He stormed out, leaving Minho here. 

The human felt a tug on his leash, and Newt announced :

"I'm taking the human and heading back too. See ya." Before anyone could protest, he led Minho out, tugging a bit harshly than was necessary on the leash. 

They found Nick on the bridge, shivering despite the hot air. He was bent in half, clutching his stomach and whimpering. He lifted his eyes to Newt and Minho when they neared, looking terrorised, and Minho took a step back.

Veins were showing around the redhead's eyes, black like ink. Newt cursed, and bent to lift him up, supporting his friend's weight without trouble. 

"What's happening to him ?" Minho asked, voice muffled by the dog thingie. 

"It's Envy," Nick wheezed. "He's trying to take control."

"Now ? When you were judging damned souls ?"

"This girl went to Heaven," Nick replied as Newt dragged him across the bridge towards the doors of The Fields of Punishment. "It's more than I ever had. I'm jealous." He gave an humourless laugh. "Jealous of a dead girl ! Envy is so proud of me he saw this as a sign that I'm like him and wouldn't mind if he took over."

"Yeah, Lust decided to try and do a come-back too. Let's hurry."

They finally reached the palace, and Newt started shaking too. Minho caught him and Nick before they fell, but the blonde pushed him harshly away and handed him the redhead's limp body. 

"I'm okay. Follow me."

Minho wanted to argue, but Nick began to shake badly, so he decided to shut up for once. 

When they got back to the redhead's place, Minho threw him on his bed and held him still while Newt went through the closets and drawers around the room, searching for Angel blood. 

Minho pictured a jar of blood hidden in Nick's undergarments and bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from telling Newt to be careful. 

Turns out the Angel blood was in the redhead's undergarments. Under them, to be exact. 

It was a long metal box, were small golden syringes were supposed to be piled. 

Problem being there was only one syringe. 

Newt and Minho eyed the small thing, horror-struck. (Nick just passed out.)

"There is only one."

"No shit Minho."

The blonde ran his fingers through his locks. 

"Fuuuck... When he said we were running short, I didn't imagine it was this short !"

"Perhaps there is another box somewhere," Minho suggested. "Just keep looking."

Newt shook his head and seized the syringe in his hand. 

"There was only one box... Thomas said we had to get out before we ran short... Fuck."

Minho's eyes navigated between the red-haired boy laying on the bed, his veins darkening by the minute, and the shaking blonde in front of him. 

"Do you really... Hey !"

Before Minho had a chance to finish his sentence, Newt plunged the syringe in Nick's arm. The golden liquid seeped into the boy's dark veins, and he stopped shivering. 

Newt stumbled out of the room and collapsed on the couch in the living room. Minho hurried worriedly after him, but the blonde swatted him away and curled into a shaking and whimpering ball. 

"Is there anything I can do ?" Minho asked. Newt nodded.

"Put some clothes on."

Minho was reminded of his clothing and blushed a deep red. 

"Right. Wait here."

"I ain't goin' anywhere," the blonde muttered. 

Minho hurried to his room and quickly put a T-shirt and jeans on, then went back to Newt, who was now having spasms. The dark haired teen, unsure of what to do, tentatively put a hand on his shoulder. The half demon recoiled from his touch and hissed between his teeth. 

"Br-bring the transmission device," Newt ordered. 

Minho half flew to the hidden room and came back with the thing. Newt turned it on, but nothing happened. Worry painted itself on the blonde's face. At least the shock stopped the shaking. 

"It ain't normal." He told Minho. "Last time Tommy didn't answer, Rachel - one of his friends - got expelled from Heaven."

"Isn't there any other way to make him send Angel blood ?" Minho pressed. 

Newt leant the back of his head against the arm of the couch. 

"No," he breathed. "Rachel was the one that sent the vials of blood. I wasn't gonna ask for that." 

The dark-haired human blinked in surprise. 

"What was it, then ?"

"Well, since Gluttony said ya've got Angel blood in ya, d'yya think I could use your blood ?"

0o0o0o0o0

"THOMAS !"

The Angel jumped a good two feet in the air and turned to Brenda, spilling his coffee all over himself. 

"WHAT ?"

Brenda slapped him. Twice. 

Both cheeks reddening in the perfect shape of the teenager's hand, Thomas stumbled back a few steps. 

"The fuck...?"

"Teresa got expelled !"

Thomas opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. 

"W-what ?" He croaked. 

"You heard me !" Yeah, he did, and she sounded furious. "Teresa got expelled for contacting and helping the subjects in Hell !"

He bowed his head, waiting for her to say that he got expelled too. 

"I told Janson I helped her."

Thomas' head snapped back up so quickly it hurt his nape. 

"WHAT ?"

She slapped him again. 

"I haven't got much time, but listen carefully. We're gonna get attached to the trespassers control, and I would hate to kill any of the boys again, so you MUST find a way to get them out. Got it ?"

Footsteps echoed behind the door. Brenda hugged Thomas, whispering in his hear :

"Tell them to drink Minho's blood next time the sins try to overwhelm them. And tell them" the door opened. "That what they seek is in the last circle."

Thomas tried to reply but could only manage a curt nod before his friend was dragged away to her expulsion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know. Awful. Sorry.


	4. Chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um. Sorry I guess ?

"Drink my blood ?"

"Yeah."

"What the Hell."

"Not even remotely funny."

"Wasn't meant to be."

"Minho Park not meaning a bad pun ? Are you ill ?"

"Oh, shut it." Replied Minho, sincerely hoping his stomach would do him the favour of staying in his place. He chewed on his thumbnail, eyeing Newt, shaking on the couch, and fought the urge of hugging him and holding tight until the shaking subsisted. The blonde would probably bite him.

Which led his thoughts back to what the half demon had just said.

"D'you really think it would work ?" He asked, taking his thumb away from his mouth.

Newt shrugged.

"'worth a try," he panted. "Won't hurt nobody."

"Yeah, except maybe me" mumbled Minho. Newt kicked him in the shin.

"Make an effort, shuckface !"

The human, jumping on one leg while massaging the other, shot him a dark look and opened his mouth to reply, when the transmission device stuttered and jumped to life, showing a distressed Thomas. Newt's head snapped up, mouth already flowing with questions, but the Angel cut him short.

"Teresa got expelled," he said. "Brenda went with her. I can't help you anymore. Brenda told me that Minho's blood should work like Angel blood. The exit is in the last circle. Goodbye." And he disappeared, leaving the two boys staring at the transmission device in an owl-like manner.

"Well," said Newt after a while, "that's not good."

Minho nodded, feeling that 'not good' didn't completely sum up the situation.

"No more help from Heaven, then ?"

"No. No more help." Newt let his head fall back against the cushions and winced. He held a shaking hand towards a first-aid kit on a shelf. Minho, reminded of the current problem, jumped on his feet and went to retrieve it.

Newt searched a second or two, then held out an empty syringe, looking at Minho expectantly.

The dark-haired boy jumped out of range.

"No way. You're not planting that in me with these shaking hands."

Newt rolled his eyes, but handed him the syringe. Minho seized it, and ignoring the slight twinge of pain, planted it on his forearm, pulled, and took it out when his blood filled it.

Not pausing to wonder why his blood was so light-coloured, he took Newt's arm and gently transferred the blood. The blonde tensed for a moment or two, before relaxing completely, falling asleep.

Minho slumped beside him, and took a moment to reflect on what Thomas had said.

'The exit is in the last circle'. Pretty clear, yet considering the pain he felt even in the first one, Minho was not anxious to go search for the exit.

But then, he thought of the way Nick and Newt had looked when the Sins had tried to take control of their bodies.

'And kill them,' provided his inner voice unhelpfully. 'Are you such a coward that you'd let your friends experience near-death situations every now and then just to avoid a little pain ?'

The answer was plain and clear. Minho rose from the sofa and strode to the stairs, nearly jumping them in his haste. He opened the secret door without thinking about it, and focused on the map of Hell Nick had shown him the night before. It was still sprawled on the table, the two crosses on it gleaming in the dim light coming from the stairs. The grey area representing the fields of Punishment were glaring at him from the centre of the map.

Minho pocketed it and got out of the flat, following the same route as earlier, ignoring the odd looks he got from the demons.

There was no way he was going to sit on his bum while his friends suffered.

Bracing himself, he opened the door leading to the Fields. Pain crashed on him, but he ignored it in favour of looking for a way down.

He looked around and finally spotted some stairs. His confidence wavered.

The 'stairs' were chunks of rock, metal and... Bones ? More or less spaced, jutting out of the wall, leading down on the floor of Limbo - Minho wondered for a moment how he knew the name of the circles - and to a trapdoor, no doubt the entrance to the second circle.

The human inhaled sharply, and popped two painkillers in his mouth.

He began to make his way down the stairs.

Halfway down, vertigo decided to wake from his dead memories and viciously attack him.

Great. Just great.

Minho sat down heavily and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping with all his heart that the stair he was on wasn't about to detach from the wall and send him plummeting to his death, because exploding his skull on the floor of the first circle of the Fields of Punishment was not on his bucket list.

'Not the moment,' he thought. 'Absolutely not the moment.'

He stayed there for about ten minutes before hearing an angry shout.

"What the shuck are you doing here, shuckface ?"

Minho weakly turned his head in the direction of the shout. A scrawny form was angrily stomping towards the top of the stairs. Wrath. Just his luck.

The demon stopped two steps up from Minho's position, a scowl deforming his already ugly features.

"I asked ya something, shank," he growled. "Whatcha doin' here ?"

Minho shrugged.

"Taking a refreshing walk. Why, is it forbidden ?"

The scowl deepened, and Wrath fisted his hand in Minho's (fabulous) hair, yanking him up and dragging him brutally up the stairs.

The human staggered, almost falling off the stairs, but Wrath was a lot stronger than he looked, keeping him upright with the hand grabbing his hair.

When they reached the top, the demon threw Minho on the floor and kicked him hard in the stomach, winding the breath out of him.

Minho doubled over, clenching his belly and coughing. Wrath kicked him again.

"Get off the floor, shuckface ! I ain't carrying you to Envy's. Get up !"

Minho staggered upright as Wrath pushed him through the door. As soon as the heavy panel fell shut, the pain disappeared.

Wrath didn't let him enjoy that bit of comfort very long, thought.

As soon as Minho straightened, the Sin threw him against the nearest wall and pressed a forearm against his throat, leaning in until their noses were practically brushing and Minho could smell the stink coming from the teenager's mouth.

"Listen to me, slinthead," Wrath hissed, low and dangerous, enough to raise the hackles on Minho's arms and set his nerves on fire. "You're not home here. You're in Hell. Here, we are the ones that rule, and trust me, if it was up to me, ya would already be dead. The only thing currently keepin' ya alive is the fact that this little shank of Envy claimed you. And ya better pray he doesn't get tired of you, 'cause were that to happen, I'd be the first to skin you alive and bathe in your blood while you were still screamin' and squirmin'. So ya better watch yerself and make Envy like ya an' keep ya, Angel-spawn, 'cause you're in constant danger here. Also," he added, and his voice dipped in a growl deeper than what human vocal cords could possibly produce, "if anything happens to us Sins as a whole or to Envy, I'll kill ya. Good that ?"

Minho nodded with some difficulty, his vision swimming. When Wrath stepped back, releasing his pressure on the human's windpipe, it took all his willpower to remain standing and not crumple on the floor like a crushed flower. He massaged his throat , eyeing the Sin angrily. For some unknown reason, that did not seem to impress the demon, despite his much scrawnier built.

"Good that," Wheezed Minho.

Wrath nodded jerkily and grabbed his upper arm, pushing him roughly in the direction of Envy's flat.

"Hurry up, shank. I haven't got all day." He said.

Minho decided it was not worth arguing and started walking, failure gnawing at his insides. Not only had he not been able to locate the Door, but Wrath had caught him, and judging from the suspicious glint in his eye, he was now gonna watch him closely.

Shuck.

 

0o0o0o0o0

 

Envy was a bitch. A desperate, wanton little bitch that enjoyed killing humans and making them suffer in the most horrible ways, like giving them what Nick had taken to refer to as a Sin Hangover. Same principle as a regular hangover, except he could not recall the last time he had touched a bottle, because being drunk while hiding your true identity from a gang of immortal childish demons was the best way to get killed painfully.

The worst problem here, Nick reflected, was that Newt had given him the full syringe of Angel blood in one go, the self-sacrificing little shank.

First, Nick never ever took the whole syringe in one go, because they didn't have much, so rations were a great idea, but obviously either Newt was too affected by Lust manifesting and his brain was not functioning normally, or he had passed out too and let Minho deal with it. Which would've been a really, really stupid idea, because not only didn't Minho remember a shuck about... Well, anything, but he never exactly shone by his intelligence, either.

Second, Nick had a higher percentage of demon blood and genes than Newt, and while Angel blood chased Envy away, if there was too much it came back with a revenge and burned like liquid fire through the redhead's veins for shucking hours, leaving him clumsy, weak and shaking for days.

For those two reasons, Nick never took a full syringe in one go, ever.

But obviously he was surrounded by idiots and the world in general hated him and wanted him dead.

Nick opened his eyes with a grunt. He was lying in his bed and had absolutely no intentions of getting up, because a) there was Angel blood in his lungs, veins and everywhere in his body, stripping him of his demon strength and leaving him unable to move his too-heavy body and b) his bed was nice and soft, and it had been days since he last slept in it. Sleeping actually led to Envy trying to take control, so Nick tried to avoid it as much as possible.

Also, c) his human sight, when not supported by a demon's, was horrible, and he could not even read the numbers on the alarm clock next to his head, let alone tell in which direction was the door.

Being human sucked.

'Yes it does,' mumbled a drowsy voice at the back of his head, a voice that never went away no matter the amount of angel blood in his body. Nick had grown accustomed to it, over the years, but never said a word to Newt about it. He could only suppose it was the same for the blond, thought he doubted it, as Newt was absolutely nothing like Lust, and stronger than him by far.

Nick... Nick was probably more like Envy than he was willing to admit it, and truth be told, the only reasons he had not given up on keeping him at bay were Newt, and his own hard-headed stubbornness.

Also, probably the fact that Envy was not as intent to possess him as was expected. As soon as the Sin had heard what Newt and him were trying to do - get out, obviously - he had stopped fighting him on an everyday basis and just gone with it, throwing a tantrum or two from time to time and trying to take over his body every few weeks. Despite that, thought, Envy was a quite decent bodymate (like a roommate but in the body).

'Brat,' Envy growled. 'You need my help. The angel blood is eating at your system and I'd rather not die, so just this once I'll help you without trying to take your body.'

'Thank you so much for your consideration,' Nick replied dazedly. 'I suppose you want something in exchange and I haven't got all day, so spill. What d'ya want ?'

'What, I can't gratuitously be generous ?' Envy retorted dryly.

Silence.

'Don't answer that,' grumbled the Sin. 'You are right, I do want something, but that'll have to wait until we're out of here.'

'Tell me.'

'The boy you claimed as a pet,' Envy replied. 'I want his blood. Drink it as soon as you're out, or the mortal world will kill me, and you will die too.'

Nick shut his thoughts and tried to think. Okay... So the Sin wanted to live. That would've sounded legit, if it had been suggested by about anyone else. Given that it was Envy, the redhead was more than willing to suppose that there was a catch. Like, Minho's blood would make the Sin stronger or some kind of thing. So there was no way he'd do it, even thought he did want to live. Problem being that if the redhead didn't agree, Envy was spiteful and childish enough to let him die, even if that would mean his own death. So Nick couldn't say no.

But well, Nick was playing this game against a demon. Nobody would hold it against him if he cheated a bit.

'Alright,' he told the Sin. 'I'll do it.'

Envy buzzed, which Nick had come to acquaint with a pleased and amused chuckle. He could not tell if the Sin knew what he was up to, but if he did, that did not seem to bother him. Which begged the question why, but the redhead was too damn tired to try to answer it. As the Sin's dark energy flowed through him, Nick decided the world wasn't about to end and went back to sleep. And if the world _was_ in danger, let Newt and Minho deal with it. He was too shucking tired.

0o0o0o0o0

 

Newt, as opposed to Nick, felt bloody amazing and had absolutely no sly voice echoing in his head. Minho's blood had done wonders, and he felt better than he ever did in the past two years.

Which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Newt was strongly attracted to Minho, of that he was sure.

He woke up feeling refreshed, on the extra-soft couch in Nick's living room, to the sound of someone angrily pounding on the entrance door, shouting at Envy to move his ass and get his slinthead of a human pet back 'cause the shuckface was really annoying and the someone was gonna kill him if Envy didn't come out to take him right now.

Newt was ready to bet that the someone was Wrath.

Grunting a bit, Newt rose from the couch, took a second to slip back in Lust's role, and opened the door with Lust's trademark smile plastered on his face, raising a brow at Minho and Wrath standing there. There were bruises on Minho's neck, he noted, and his clothes were covered in dust. Also he had absolutely no reason to be out there.

"Slim it, shuckface," he hissed to Wrath. "Envy's enjoying his beauty sleep. What d'ya want ?"

Wrath bared his teeth at him and roughly pushed Minho forward, before whirling around and stalking away, shouting over his shoulder :

"Don't let your shucking pet out of your sight, shuckface ! I found him in the fields of Punishment !"

Newt levelled a disbelieving and slightly threatening eyebrow at Minho, who didn't even have the decency of fidgeting or looking sheepish. Sighing, the blond opened the door all the way and gestured for him to enter.

Once he was inside, Newt slammed the door, turned to face him and put his hands on his hips, giving him the face that always made Nick snort and call him a mother hen and cluck at him, which changed the disappointed-in-you-mother-hen face to a Serial-killer-preparing-his-next-murder face, which tended to shut everybody in sight up.

Thankfully, Minho wasn't like Nick and had the decency to look sheepish, which would've been great and very satisfying were it not for the fact that Minho Park was not supposed to look sheepish, ever, under no circumstance.

Before waking up here, Newt would've given his right arm to see this expression on his friend's face. Now, however, it made him want to whack him upside the head and go strangle everybody who worked for WICKED.

"What," Newt began in the flattest tone he could muster, "were you thinking ?"

Minho shrugged, and it was such a Minho move that the blond nearly kissed him for it.

"You an' Nick were out cold, so I thought I'd check the last circle for the exit."

Newt pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Without taking any painkillers, I suppose ?" He said, dry as the sixth circle (a flaming pit).

"I did !" Minho replied, outraged. "I'm not stupid, thank you ! I got caught because of the stairs !!"

"The stairs."

"Yes !! The chunks of-of things jutting out from the wall ! Halfway down I discovered that I had vertigo, which you didn't tell me !!"

Newt took a deep breath, counted to ten, then decided to fuck it and yelled at the top of his lungs :

"YOU GOT CAUGHT BECAUSE OF THE STAIRS AND THAT'S YOUR ONLY CONCERN ???! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT'S IN THERE ?? GRIEVERS, THAT'S WHAT !! BLOODY GREAT BALL-SHAPED SPIDERY DEMONS !!! THE KIND OF THINGS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO FIND EVERY SHUCKING BODY IN THE FIELDS OF PUNISHMENTS !!! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID TO GO THERE WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE !!! WHAT IF THEY HAD CAUGHT YOU ? WHAT IF THEY HAD KILLED YOU ?? BLOODY HELL WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE A SLINTHEAD LIKE YOU IN MY LIFE ?? YOU STUPID - "

A pair of warm lips cut him mid-sentence and he froze, shocked. A few moment passed before the action registered, and even then, the blond had no idea how to react. A part of him wanted to pull Minho in and kiss the living daylights out of him, yet the other, the contact-phobic part of him, wanted to bite Minho's tongue off, push the Asian away from him and continue his banter.

Thankfully, his awesome, awesome red-haired friend saved him from having to take a decision.

"Well," drawled a familiar voice. "I wasn't expecting that."

Minho sprang away from Newt, who turned to his friend, an explanation on his lips, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Nick raised a red eyebrow at him and pressed a few buttons on the coffee machine, eyes suddenly as red as his hair. Newt went rigid, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Minho inch away, confused.

"Envy," the blond growled, shifting unconsciously in a fighting stance.

"Newt," the Sin greeted him, entirely unbothered and far too gleeful for the situation. "Nick is taking a nap and left his body in my care. Which is entirely your fault, by the way," he added with a very Nick-like pout. "All that angel blood was attacking his system and burning his demon cells one by one. And well, I couldn't just let him die. Apart from the fact that it would kill me as well, I am inexplicably fond of the brat. Talk about some bad taste, uh." He took a sip from his Latte and moved to sprawl on the couch, cautiously keeping his movements non-threatening. Distantly, Newt noted the impeccable way in which he spoke, so different from the slang used by the other Sins.

Envy sighed in a long suffering way and raised his eyebrows at them.

"Chill out, guys," he said dryly. "I want to get out of here as much as you do. Hell is _boring_." He took a gulp out of his mug, and offered them a Cheshire grin. "So, from the yells, I suppose you located an exit suitable for a living being ?"

Newt frowned.

"What do you mean, 'an exit suitable for a living being' ? There are other exits ?"

"Of course," retorted Envy. "How do you think ghosts wound up in the living world ? Souls sometime find their way through cracks in the walls and ceiling of Limbo and wriggle their way up. Then either they find a ghost-sensitive person to help them accomplish whatever they couldn't, and find their way to Heaven, or the Expelled accomplish their mission and slaughter them. The Expelled are Angels that were expelled from Heaven for a minor deed. They have to slow the overpopulation in Heaven by slaughtering a thousand escapee souls before they can accomplish what they have to to get there. Then they can go back to being regular Angels. It's a job invented by WICKED , in case you were wondering." He added dryly, his lips pulling downward in distaste.

"Why am I not surprised ?" Mumbled Minho. Newt ignored him and focused on the Sin calmly drinking his coffee on the couch.

"What exactly do you want, shuckface ?" He asked.

"I told you, replied Envy, rolling his eyes. "Freedom. Getting out. Leaving this stinking, burning up place far behind me. Amongst a great deal of other things, of course. I'm still Envy, no matter how good my intentions."

Newt gave him a are-you-kidding-me look, which didn't seem to faze the Sin.

"I won't let you get out," said Minho suddenly. "No way."

Envy let out a deep, aggravated sigh, and took a deep breath, mouth open like he was going to yell.

"Stop !" Said Newt. "We'll discuss the exact terms, but you can come with us ! No need to alarm anybody."

Triumph and satisfaction flashed on Nick's features, the red eyes giving Minho a look full of smugness, to which Minho replied, very maturely, by sticking his tongue out at the Sin.

Newt rolled his eyes. That was becoming sort of an habit.

"So," said Envy cheerfully, setting his mug down and clasping his hands together before him. "How about making a plan ? I know the schedule of the Griever patrols and the days on which we won't be bothered by other Sins !"

Newt hummed and gestured toward the stairway, Minho falling in step with him.

"Just by curiosity," said Envy, "how did you know it was me rather than your friend ?"

Staring in the blood-red eyes, so different from their usual pitch-black, Newt answered without hesitating :

"You don't move like him at all."

Envy nodded thoughtfully, a smirk pulling his lips, and hopped down the stairs.

A second before Minho could follow him, Newt fisted his hand in his collar, dragging the human to him, and kissed him squarely on the lips, before pulling him away and running down after Envy, red coloring his cheeks.

He did not see Minho blush, nor did he hear him squeal like a schoolgirl. He did not need to.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, a voice in the back of his head, who Newt had heard a bare couple of times in the past two years, did it for him. Enthusiastically.

Newt groaned inwardly as Envy did the exact same thing. The Sins were such children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, it's been months and I have no excuse... I won't promise to update it more regularly cause I'm an awful human being that can't keep this kind of promises, but I'll try ok ?


	5. Whatever chapter we're at now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooorrrryyyyy, I get writer's block like you wouldn't believe

"So what you're telling us is that the only moment we can try to get to the exit is a four-hour window next week, if Wrath doesn't visit the fifth and seventh circles like he does sometimes ?"

Head upside-down and knees hooked around a pull-ups bar, Envy spread his hands. 

"Hey, shank, it's not like it was my fault ! I'm merely telling you when we could try to reach the exit. Admitting that it is in the last circle and we don't need some sort of code or something to open it. I'm pretty dubious about it myself, to be honest. Not that I've been in the last circle very often - no one does, it's too bloody cold down there - but I did pay the souls a visit every couple centuries. If the exit really is the maelstrom, lemme tell ya, we've got about eighty percent chance to die shredded by flying shards of ice before we reach it."

"Perhaps there's some mechanism," suggested Minho, eyeing the Sin warily. "Like, the blood of a Sin can stop the maelstrom ?"

Envy gave him the flattest look humankind had ever witnessed. 

"Please. Do you think we haven't tried ? We've been here for centuries. We tried everything." He paused, and gazed at Minho, considering. "Except Angel blood, of course."

Newt bristled. 

"No," he growled. "You ain't touching him. Much less to spill his blood."

Envy, unfazed, rolled his red eyes. Minho sensed humans must have lost a lot of the Sin's respect in the last half hour. 

"Just an idea. But you must give it some thought, though - Minho wouldn't have been sent here if WICKED didn't think he would be useful in some way."

Minho frowned. All this stuff about WICKED made no sense to him. Did they want them to get out or stay in ? 

"Anyway," Envy continued. "I can't believe it is that simple. There must be a catch. You sure we can't speak to that Angel boy of yours ?"

Minho flinched and discreetly put his hand on the hilt of a knife on the nearest table. 

"I don't remember one of us mentioning Thomas to you," he said, tone guarded. 

Envy rolled his eyes once more. He was really going to get them stuck in the back of his head one of these days. 

"Oh, puh-lease ! As if I couldn't hear everything the brat hears !"

"And you didn't think you should've told us before we explained the facts ?" Newt asked, uncrossing his arms and glaring at the Sin, who had asked a lot more questions than were strictly necessary during the explanation. 

"I wanted to see how many lies you would tell me and about what," replied Envy, unconcerned. "You told an awful lot. I'm impressed. You even," he added, tone suspiciously light, "told me you had recognised me because I don't move like Nick. Like my eyes weren't as crimson as his hair." Newt winced. "You can understand why I didn't spill each and everyone of my secrets."

An uncomfortable silence followed.

"Right," admitted Minho halfheartedly. "So we didn't trust you. Can you really blame us ?" 

Envy flapped his hands before him. 

"No, no, of course not, I totally understand ! All I'm saying is, we all want the same thing, and if we don't trust each other with important matters, we're doomed."

"You are a demon. A major demon. A Sin ! No one could trust you !" Shouted Minho, slamming his fist on the table. 

Envy stared at him. He didn't appear surprised, or shocked, or even angry or scornful, just - blank. Like he knew he had to do something, but not what. 

The demon blinked, and the moment passed. He blinked again, and his eyes suddenly became black. 

"What the..." His knees unhooked themselves from the bar, and only Minho's sharp reflexes prevented his cute little red-haired head from spilling it's valuable contents on the cement floor, catching the short redhead in his arms. Nick - it must be Nick, judging by his eye colour - moaned a little and brought his hands up to rub his face, then blinked blearily at his surroundings, confusion furrowing his brow. 

"Where the schuck am I ? And why is Envy mopping ?" He rubbed his forehead. His eyes widened and he slapped his hands over his mouth, like he wanted to hold that last bit back. 

"What do you mean, he's mopping ?" Newt asked, coming closer, concern on every feature of his face. 

"I mean he's not speaking, that's all," muttered Nick. "Ouch, my head. Anyone got painkillers ?"

"Does that mean he's usually chatty ?" Inquired Newt, tone icier than the last circle. "And it never occurred to you to tell me ?" 

Nick shrugged. 

"Well, he didn't try to take control every second, so I thought it wasn't important."

"Wasn't important ? Wasn't important ? A bloody Sin has been chatting in your head for two years and you thought it wasn't important ?" Nick pushed Minho away and staggered on his feet, ignoring Newt. Unfortunately, all that it seemed to achieve was to piss the blond off more. Growling, he strode angrily to the redhead and grabbed his arm. Nick glared. 

"And so what ? You couldn't have done anything about it anyways." He ripped his arm from Newt's grasp. Minho felt the tension in the room increase and considered subtly running away. It smelled an awful lot like oncoming drama. 

"I could've given you more angel blood !" Exclaimed Newt. Nick scowled. 

"Yeah, and killed me. Why do you think I never take the whole syringe in one go, slinthead ? It shucking burns."

Newt hissed like an angry cat. This time, Nick growled right back, facing him. Minho flattened himself against the wall, almost hypnotized by what was happening in front of him. 

"Is that the next 'unimportant' thing you're not going to tell us ? That you're turning into a bloody demon ?"

The short redhead balanced back on his heels, lifting a disbelieving eyebrow to Newt. 

"What the shuck ? I'm not turning into a demon ! I'm already half-demon and possessed by a Sin, remember ? How much worse can it get ?"

"Really," bit the blond sarcastically. "So all the spacing out, throwing up, passing out, red-gleaming eyes and shuck mean nothing ? Stop kidding me, Nicolas. I know what's happening. It was part of our lessons. You're becoming one of these abominations."

Nick looked at him blankly for a moment, expression startlingly similar to the one Envy sported right before bailing on them, Minho realized. Newt snapped his fingers under his nose. 

"That is exactly what I mean," he snapped. You're Changing and you know it, no matter how hard you try to suppress it."

Nick swatted his hand away, suddenly snarling with anger. 

"And what are you gonna do about it, uh ? WHAT CAN YOU DO ??!"

Minho jumped, startled by the sudden outburst. Somehow, from his all but absent memories, he knew that this kind of behavior was unusual for the redhead. And Newt seemed to think the same, judging from his facial expression. He whipped out a knife and pointed it at Nick. 

"Get in the middle of the room."

Nick swatted his hand away again, glaring. 

"Or what ? You'll kill me ? As if you were physically able to." He took a step towards Newt, his eyes reddening ever so slightly. 

Minho moved faster than he ever did, and he had the feeling that was saying a lot. He got between the two British half-demons, roughly pushing Nick back. The redhead staggered back a step, still glaring. 

"If you touch him, I will rip your head off, I swear," growled Minho, getting in a fighting stance. Nick only glared, hands lax at his sides. The red gleam in his eyes doused a little. 

"Nick." Newt said, circling around Minho, hands empty, raised in a non-threatening manner. "Get in the center. Please. You know it is for your own good."

Nick scoffed, and hung his head, red bangs hiding his face. When he raised it, his eyes were red. 

"If you do that, he'll probably die," Envy said off-handedly. "I'd say 80% chance. You sure you wanna take the risk ?"

"Do what ?" Asked Minho. The Sin never glanced at him, red eyes solely on Newt. 

"Exorcise him," replied the latter curtly. 

"Exor... Whoa there, I don't remember much, but I'm pretty sure that as an almost-demon, that would be bad for his health." Said Minho, looking disbelievingly at his... Boyfriend ? To be sorted out later. They had a life and death situation on their hands. "Surely you're not gonna try that ?"

"That would halfway rip his soul from his body," replied Envy cheerfully. "Which means that he wouldn't be dead, but unable to do anything. And, as the second soul in this body and far too powerful for a puny exorcism to work, I would take his place. And, among other things that you surely won't appreciate, the other Sins would notice my eye color and quickly connect the dots."

Newt seemed to hesitate for a moment. He sighted in defeat and stepped back. 

"Okay. No exorcism. But he's taking a shower of holy water."

Envy scowled and withdrew. Nick sprawled on the floor. This time, Minho made no move to catch him, too busy staring at the blond. 

"You know that's gonna burn him, right ? Ya really wanna do that ?"

Newt nodded and prodded Nick with his toe. 

"Get up, shuckface, it's screaming time."

Nick grunted and rolled on his back. 

"Again ? Dammit, if I didn't know better I'd say that you enjoy causing me pain, Newton." He put his arms up above his head. "I ain't walking. World's spinning."

Newt sighed, an almost fond expression on his face. It was as if the scene just minutes ago had never happened. He grabbed Nick's arms and dragged him across the floor to a weapon shelf. Minho trotted behind them, carefully giving Nick a wide berth and eyeing him warily. The redhead just stared into space, muttering to himself. Minho didn't try to understand what he was saying, and caught up with Newt just as he dumped his friend on the floor and tapped the door-opening code on the shelf. It swung open, revealing a shower stall. Strangely, the shower tap was outside the stall, whose door could be locked from the outside. It wasn't the most welcoming place ever.

That said, this impression could be coming from the pentagram on the floor. Or the manacles, fixed to the walls on opposite sides of the stall. Nick scowled at it, but got up and undressed nevertheless. Minho turned to give him some privacy. He heard the shower door opening, the manacles clicking. Newt murmured something to the redhead, who let out a humourless laugh and replied something in a sarcastic tone. Then Minho heard the shower door closing, the lock sliding into place, then the tap being slowly turned on, accompanied with a sharp pained hiss. 

"Brace yourself," said Newt. "3, 2, 1..." The tap emitted a squeaking noise when being turned fully on. Nick screamed. A sizzling sound semblable to the sound of burning flesh filled the air, making Minho want to puke. Then, the door closed, muffling the screams. 

Newt slid past him and headed for the exit. The human followed him, casting a last glance at the door before catching up to the blond. 

"What is that for ?"

"It will momentarily repel the demon-ness. Hurts like a bitch, though. We'll get him out when he'll stop screaming."

They reached the top of the stairs, and Newt closed the door behind Minho, completely silencing the sounds coming from downstairs. 

"So it is soundproof !" Minho exclaimed, causing the other one to look at him like he was crazy. 

"Of course it's bloody soundproof. You don't think demons would wonder about all the screaming otherwise ?"

Minho shrugged. 

"Well, the first night, when I still thought you were demons, I just assumed you were having sex."

The look of horror on the blond's face was worth a thousand dollars. 

"Wh-what ?" He spluttered. "Sex ? With Nick ??!"

"Well, you are supposed to be Lust," replied Minho, raising his hands defensively. 

"Yikes !"

"Well, if Nick's not your type then, maybe I am," suggested Minho, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Newt looked like he wanted to smack him for that, and probably would have hadn't Greed bursted into the flat yelling :

"THIS ONE'S MINE AND HE'S PRETTIER, IN YOUR ASS ENVY !!!"

Newt and Minho stared. 

Greed seemed to realise Envy wasn't in the room and strode towards the rooms. 

Newt seized his arm, stopping him, the "Lust" smile back on his features. 

"What are ya doing, shank ? Envy's sleeping. What the shuck are you talking about ?"

Greed's scrawny face was flushed with excitement and he shrugged Newt's hand off before turning to him, eyes shining with glee. 

"Another human appeared, or at least we think he's human. And I want to make sure Envy knows this one is mine. Where is he ?"

"Another human ?" Minho asked at the same time as Newt replied :

"Envy's sleeping, he's had a... rough few hours," he said with a suggestive wink. Greed yelped and took a step back, bringing his hands over his ears. 

"I don't want to know, don't tell me !" 

Newt purred at that. 

"Really ? But I'm sure even you would appreciate all he and I are able to do to each other... did you know that when..." 

Greed ran away. 

"That was evil," said Minho. "Purely evil."

He expected Newt to grin at him or something, but he only got a worried glance as the half-demon opened the door to the stairs and ran down, telling him to stay here. He reappeared minutes later with a half-conscious Nick, who immediately concentrated when they told him there had been a new arrival. 

"But who could it be ?" Wondered Nick, voice husky from screaming. He looked impossibly grateful to be out of the shower. "Minho was the last one alive from our group."

"I have no idea," replied Newt. "How about we hurry the fuck up before they start having fun ?"

Judging from Nick's expression, 'having fun' with demons wasn't a pleasant experience. 

They hurried through the corridors, towards the Fields of Punishment. Minho was getting tired of the place. 

They arrived at the edge of Limbo, through another door than the one they had previously used. All the Sins were already there, huddled around an unmoving shape on the floor, arguing as per usual. 

"I called dibs, Pride !" Roared Greed as they arrived. "Envy got his human ! Why can't I get mine ?"

"Cause he ain't human, slinthead !" Pride roared back. "He's a shucking Angel !!"

"What ?" 

Newt and Nick's twin cries of disbelief cut through the argument. The other Sins turned to them, seemingly very upset. 

"That's right," said Pride in a grim tone, contrasting the expression of glee Gluttony was sporting. "The greenie's a shucking angel."

Newt and Nick exchanged a quick glance, dumbfound. 

Then the Sins shifted to allow them to see the Angel (even though Greed didn't seem very happy with it) and Minho felt his stomach plummeting towards his feet. 

The guy on the ground of the First circle was Thomas. 

0o0o0o0o0

Thomas knew, technically, that he was being stupid. 

Scratch that, he was suicidal. 

After all, who in their right mind would decide that jumping into a place known as the Flaming Pit Of Damnation was a good idea ?

Crazy people, that's who. 

Thomas blamed Theresa for getting expelled. She was his entire impulse control. 

But despite the suicidal part, he knew he was doing the right thing here. His actions would help get the three others out. Oh, and it would probably kill him. The Angel decided to carefully ignore that part. 

The telltale sound of a door opening caught his attention, and he started working faster, albeit silently, on opening the door that would lead him to Hell. 

When the others would get out, they would end up on earth, but the door through which they were sent to Hell was in Heaven. It was a demonstration of Heaven's power over Hell, that Angels could pop into Hell while demons were stuck there for eternity. 

Unless someone opened a gate of Hell, of course. 

Which was totally not what Thomas planned on doing when in the pit. Pshh, what are you talking about. The gate was a 100% risk-free (not), no demons could get across. Hopefully. 

The sound of a walking someone were getting closer and closer, sending Thomas into a frenzy as he worked. He heard a voice calling his name, but didn't reply, blinking the sweat away from his eyes and carving the last opening sigils to the door. Now, all he needed was a bit of blood...

The angel looking for him turned a corner and shouted when he saw what Thomas was doing. He started sprinting towards the brunet, yelling at him to stop. 

Thomas closed tightly his palm around his knife and slashed. A few drops of blood landed on the floor, and he blinked stupidly at them, before coming back to his senses and slamming his bloodied hand on the sigil. 

There was a blinding white light, which rapidly turned to burning orange, and Thomas was sucked into it's center, gasping in pain as the orange light burned at his wings, which were only visible to other angels. He gritted his teeth, hissing in pain and closing his eyes as the light sunk sharp burning teeth into him, dragging him down to Hell. 

It's not too bad, he thought. The process was supposedly very painful for Angels. 

He made the mistake of relaxing. 

Pain burst through him like fireworks, pushing a scream through his throat, burning like acid in his veins, and his wings, oh, his wings...

Before Thomas could envision the damage done to them, he struck hard floor with a bone-jarring impact, and passed out.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, even negative, are appreciated, if constructive !


End file.
